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• What type of consumer are you?

In describing myself to the class through my first name, I utilized the words honest, meticulous and analytical.  I feel that I typically don’t buy on impulse and would prefer to research the product before I purchase it.  This ranges from as little as a couple of hundred dollars for a vacuum or golf bag to more significant items like kitchen products or a car.  I am an individual consumer for products involving my wife, my grown children and home.  I also support a responsibility at work as an organizational consumer for capital equipment needed in the Quality Department within our module center.  During the 2019 calendar year, I was responsible for delivering two CMM machines valued at $1.5M along with numerous smaller tooling items.  In 2020, there is a requirement for two X-Ray Systems for the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) cell that I’ve begun to research.  As well as lower dollar borescopes, portable measurement arms and chiller systems for our film developer to name a few.

What influences your buying decisions, and how?

As an individual consumer, I would think that my economic situation, lifestyle and social influences likely contribute to my purchases first.  I feel that the research I’ve completed on a particular item tends to lead me to a much easier decision on what name brands and model I should purchase.  Price point is always a consideration and another factor in my decision.  As an organizational consumer, there is a bidding process from our outside vendor all competing to the same specification.  Those specs are derived from the subject matter experts in a particular manufacturing cell.  I simply don’t have the experience in some cases to decide what type of equipment is necessary without those intimate in producing a particular item and their direct input.

Which stage actually leads to your purchasing decisions?

I would tend to think that the decision to purchase is based again on the research for a given product.  Actually executing the purchase has timing elements such as whether a sale is pending or forecast in the near future, availability of the item and whether they have the particulars I desire.  For example; size, color, or brand that I want.  It also has to do with convenience, do I have to travel to a particular brick and mortar establishment or simply execute the transaction online from the comfort of my family room.  As an organizational consumer, the sealed bids are received, logged and distributed for our review.  Though pricing is generally the deciding factor, additional items such as training offered, availability, installation time and commonality of hardware already in-house are considerations.  If we have common machinery, the amount of spares is decreased saving capital, the effectiveness of the technicians that service them is higher since they don’t have to learn another system and correlation between them becomes a factor in throughput.

When making a buying decision, how are you influenced by marketing research and marketing design?

I do tend to purchase name brand product as a result of marketing research and design.  Though given an opportunity to purchase a product from an unknown company, it would depend of the dollar value involved.  Again I would try products from lesser recognized names based upon other’s experiences that they may have recommended rather than marketing.  The amount of social media available is certainly an influencer to many and I would tend to try and filter through those comments to come to a purchasing decision.

Do you experience any post-purchase behavior?

Absolutely, and on two recent purchases for our home it was unfortunately the polar opposites of each other.  We recently purchased a vacuum that was highly touted, marketed well and had the recommendation of “Consumer Reports”.  We purchased the model and are amazed at the amount of debris collected each and every time we use it.  Our home is my wife and I and we don’t have any pets, consider ourselves clean and yet this vacuum wow’s us each use.  Now on the other end of the spectrum, we purchased a side by side refrigerator with the lower freezer compartment.  We did our research and though it had solid recommendations and marks again from “Consumer Reports”, we have been less than thrilled with the product.  While under warranty, we had a service visit to address the seals on the doors which lead to condensation on the freezer door in the summer months as well as ice build-up in the refrigerator portion of the unit.  Both items were addressed but we have an opinion that we wouldn’t likely purchase this brand in the future.

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